dave123456789s 1982 Porsche 911 SC

[dave123456789]

Hi all,

Figured some of you might enjoy joining me on my new project so figured why not get stuck into a build thread.

Introducing my 1982 Porsche 911 SC. Have been following old air cooled 911s for quite some time and basically just sat on the side lines and watched them get horrendously expensive. Was at a point where my R32 GTR was going to cost too much to take to the next level so it was time for another project - I figured older means cheaper to tinker on?.. right? Found this down in Dunedin, got it inspected and one big wallet thrashing later this ended up on my doorstep.

Was always wanting a 930 turbo but since that cost far too much for me I had to settle for this instead. It ticks all the boxes for me though - mint, wide body, right hand drive, whale tail. Will likely just turbo it myself.

 

First impressions - its beautiful - mint and I couldnt wait to drive it. Queue the start of the interesting quirks and also the list of things I want to fix. First drive had me thinking why the hell are the pedals so far to the left (the accelerator is basically in line with your balls and clutch is practically in the center of the car) so that took a fair bit to get used to it. Almost tempted to get the gas out and try bend then further to the right. Also the clutch was insanely heavy and the gear shift never felt like I was in gear as it had so much slop - was basically just stirring a bucket of paint and if you were in the right spot you were in a gear. Made for some interesting times. The wing mirrors are also magnified which is a huge pet hate of mine so that had to go!

And lastly before we get to the tinkering this is me on day one just after first drive.

 

 

[dave123456789]

First week I got straight into fixing those things that annoyed me.

Firstly - stock wheel was ugly as can be plus also was way too far away from me to be comfy. Im quite tall and the wheel has no adjustment so had me leaning forward to steer. Not good. Wanted another Nardi but as the other car rocks a Nardi figured may as well get something different. Ordered myself a Momo Prototipo and an extended boss kit. Will likely get a Porsche button for the horn but will see.

 

Now the steering wheel was out of the way it was time to work out why the shifter was so aids. Got stuck in and removed the shifter and also the rear couple and all bushings I could find. Safe to say they were all toast.

Bush on the bottom just falls off plus a few inside the shifter where quite stuffed. Ordered new shifter bushings to replace everything in here.


This is what connects to the rear of shift linkage. Safe to say its not supposed to be oval. Ordered a modern ball joint spec looking one to replace this.

I have also ordered a new clutch cable and a couple of other minor things to just make it a bit nicer to drive and also normal wing mirrors. The last owner kept it looking mint but some parts were quite overdue to be replaced. This is where I made the rookie mistake of trusting shipping ETAs. So I ripped everything out and had it all ready for my package to arrive on the 10th..... well im still waiting and haven't driven the car since. No ideal but heres hoping its back on the road before Christmas. Been looking at exhaust setups but I think ill gut the cat first and see how it sounds and if still not as dramatic as I would like might take to the muffler and remove whatevers inside it. Dont really want to spend money on a fancy system if I will just be removing it all to turbo at a later stage.

[dave123456789]

Its a ball ache to get out of the garage so I went out and got some of those dolly go jacks so I can just drive it in now and dont have to jack the front and rear up with a trolly jack to slide it over to the side.

Kind of rocking my dream setup of cars now. Only thing I would like to add would be a 90s NSX but than can wait till I get more space. For now I spend a fair bit of time just having a couple cold ones and admiring the garage art while I wait for my damn parts to arrive  

[dave123456789]

Alright update time (sorry about the internet sourced images here - I will take some actual photos when I work on it next)

Parts arrived. Parts installed. Clutch cable and helper spring made a reasonable difference but this is when I started noticing things in the service manual that did not exist in my car. Drove it around on christmas day but still was not impressed with how it drives (clutch pedal weight) and it still made me look like a bit of a rookie pulling away from some intersections.

firstly this spring is missing which also assists in clutch operation - I have ordered a replacement. Also the dowel it attaches to have decided to leave the building so drilling and tapping is in order.

also when following the instructions in the service manual it said to put a chock behind the clutch pedal to hold it up to assist with installing the cable. I didnt have to do that. decided to find out why.

this here is also missing. it actually its trying to pull the pedal down to the floor so its another assist spring.

So it appears I have made a few smaller 5% wins by replacing some parts yet the big wins are still waiting to be done. Its no wonder the clutch pedal was the shittest I have ever used since 2 out of the 3 springs that support the operation are missing.

 

next on the cards - ordered those springs, some bronze bushings to replace some work out stuff on the pedal box. ordered a drivers side floor board since they are made of wood and mines rather rubbish. passenger side window frame needs a slight adjustment as it ever so slightly catches on the rear window rubber and makes it so you have to kind of slam it shut. unsure if requires a rear wheel bearing as well as the giant fan the cools the engine might also sound similar - will investigate further.

Edit: Forgot to add I removed the center console as it was just a storage pocket with no buttons on it. heaps more room for my legs now. makes the pedals also feel less to the left which is nice but I am also getting used to it now. jumping in another car after the 911 makes the pedals in those cars feel too far to the right  

[dave123456789]

sorted the issue with the wheel being too far away from me. had to get a long boss kit and then still needed a 50mm spacer to sit in a good spot. indicators are in another post code so its a bit of a reach but ill manage. can actually see how fast I'm going on the motorway now without bobbing my head to check which is a bonus. previously couldn't see anything around 100ks because of how the old wheel sat.

[dave123456789]

some parts arrived today. got the clutch pedal helper spring on which makes a huge difference even with it interfering with the accelerator shaft. lesson learned that there's a difference between left and right and drive. considering shipping doesn't change too much when ordering guess I better load the cart up.

tempted to just drive it how it is and just lube up everything so isnt rubbing too bad.

at this rate car will be mint just in time for me to go back to work